Kayleigh had never been known as one who was overly cautious with her words and so she wasn’t about to start now. “Are you alright, Mr. Sloan? I mean, that was all great news in there. Emery is healthy. You should be relieved.”
“Oh, you’re right, Kayleigh,” he began sarcastically. “I should be just over the friggin’ moon that I’ve had a baby dumped on me this morning that I know nothing about and I can’t be sure if she’s even mine! And hey, never mind the fact that my irresponsible brother could be behind this and he’s conveniently out of the country – yet again leaving me to clean up a mess! But thank God the baby’s healthy because otherwise this could be a real problem.”
In that instant, she saw red. Not just red with annoyance, but full-blown, ‘I’m gonna let you have it, mister’ red. Fully facing him, she poked a finger at his chest. “Now you listen to me. I am well aware that you did not ask to be put in this position, but the fact is that here you are! Now, I was more than willing to help you and Emery out but I will not sit back and listen to any more of your bitching because you’ve been inconvenienced. If anyone’s being inconvenienced here, Mister, it’s me!”
“All I did was come to work this morning like I always do and for the last couple of hours I’ve had to put of with your foul mood, your assistant’s nasty attitude, a heart-broken baby and a lecture from my brother! And besides that, I haven’t even had lunch yet, thanks to you.” She took a deep breath and squirmed in her seat when she saw the surprise in his whiskey eyes.
By this point, Kayleigh was trembling and she didn’t care. She took a deep breath and gave her final say. “And to tell you the truth, Mr. Sloan, I don’t think that I can help you. I think this has been a complete mistake. It would be best if you called an agency because I am just not up to this kind of situation and…” Derek’s mouth crushed against hers and thoroughly brought an end to her tirade.
At first Kayleigh was too stunned to respond. Then her brain got on board and she found herself participating in what could only be described as one heck of a hot kiss. Her mouth opened under his and in an instant his tongue swept inside. Kayleigh heard herself sigh and that small sound had her breaking the contact.
Derek had no idea what had caused him to act so recklessly and kiss her, but just watching her bristle next to him and just the force of life, energy and passion behind her words had been his undoing.
Kayleigh was the first to speak. Clearing her throat she began in a much more subdued voice than that of moments ago, “As I said, Mr. Sloan, I don’t think this is a good idea.” There was no way that she could look him in the face so she merely stared at her hands that were meekly folded in her lap.
Leaning his head back against the leather seat, Derek let out a loud breath. “I’m sorry,” he said slowly. “I know that I am not handling this day very well and I’m not used to having to take other people’s needs and feelings in to consideration.” God, he truly was a jerk.
“The thing is, Kayleigh, I really do need you.” He reached across the seat and gently took one of her hands in his and that action caused Kayleigh to finally look at him. Her blue eyes were filled with confusion. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with a baby and you came to my rescue and Emery’s. We both need you. There’s no time to go through an agency – I wouldn’t trust someone that I didn’t know to come and live in my home.”
“You don’t know me either, Mr. Sloan,” Kayleigh added sadly.
“I think after the kiss we just shared that it would be best for you to call me Derek,” he said silkily and watched as Kayleigh’s face reddened with remembrance.
“I may not know you very well, Kayleigh, but you work for me. Your supervisor gave me a quick run-down on your history with the company so now I have references to the type of person you are.” When she made to interrupt, he went on. “I have witnessed, first-hand, how carefully you’ve cared for Emery – how you’ve put her needs first. That’s the kind of person I want taking care of her. Someone who’s honest, trustworthy and loving; all the qualities that you’ve shown in just these last few hours.”
Well, Kayleigh thought breathlessly, that was one hell of a compliment. How could she possibly walk away now? If this is what he’s noticed in just a short amount of time, how much more would he learn about her while she was living under his roof? Besides the fact that she was quickly getting attached to the baby, there was the added perk of being able to get closer to Derek as well. What on earth is wrong with you, Kayleigh Marie? The baby’s welfare should be your top priority, not cozying up to the boss!
“Okay, Derek,” she said cautiously and smiled at the obvious relief on his face. “I’ll stay for Emery’s sake – but only until your brother gets back and you figure out exactly what’s going on.”
“Thank you, Kayleigh.” Derek smiled. Genuinely smiled. She was going to stay and help him. He knew that it was the right choice and had been afraid that she would walk away –particularly after their out-of-the-blue kiss. Derek could only hope that he would be able to control himself and not let that happen again while she was living with him.
After a quick stop at a convenience store for a bottled water, Kayleigh headed back into Raleigh to the only baby super store she knew of. If they were going to need as much as they thought, it would be best to get it all done in one place.
****
“Are you sure she really needs this much?” Derek asked wearily as they headed down the third aisle. “She’s really small to require this much stuff.”
With a mere chuckle, Kayleigh continued her quest through the store with an over-anxious sales clerk hot on her heels checking inventory on the larger items that they were needing. By the time they were standing at the check out, Derek’s vision had blurred and he felt as if he’d run a marathon. After some haggling and then outright arguing, Derek had convinced the store manager to have several employees in the delivery truck follow him home with all of their purchases.
Two hours and what seemed like thousands of dollars later, they were finally heading to Derek’s townhouse. Kayleigh had let him drive her SUV – figuring it would be easier than trying to concentrate on following his directions while making sure that the enormous truck that held all of Emery’s necessities was still following them.
When they turned into the exclusive neighborhood where he lived, Kayleigh could barely contain her gasp. Shocked at her reaction, she quickly cleared her throat and prayed that Derek didn’t find her to be acting like one of the Clampetts! His townhouse was the end unit that faced the golf course and had a lovely lake view in the back. It was positively breathtaking.
The delivery truck pulled in directly behind them and while Kayleigh retrieved Emery from the vehicle, Derek opened the front door and shut off the alarm. “Remind me to give you the code so that you can come and go as you please,” he said easily as he tossed his keys on to a small table in the entryway.
Kayleigh stepped inside and came to an abrupt halt. His home was impressive. True, she lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment that would almost fit in the entryway, but that was beside the point. Once she got beyond the initial shock of beautifully polished hardwood floors and the wonderful use of earth-toned colors, she was overwhelmed with the view of the lake – which she could clearly see through the two-story high windows in the living room. No, there would be no hardship in living here. The hardship would be when she would have to go home.
Behind her, the sounds of the moving men and Derek’s voice hit her. With the baby asleep in her arms she watched as the men were directed on where to set up the furniture and where to store the furnishings that had been in the room. It was amazing how some extra money could motivate these men to move so quickly and do extra work.
A glance at her wrist-watch showed that it was going on two-thirty. Lunch was obviously not going to happen and she was sure that Derek was chomping at the bit to get back to the office.
As if on cue, he came strolling down the stairs while talking on his cell phone to
Eileen. The movers came down shortly afterwards and soon began bringing in all of the smaller packages that contained the necessities for the baby – clothes, diapers, bottles, formula, blankets, the works. That was Kayleigh’s department and so she followed the men up the winding staircase to the second floor where she got her first glimpse of where she would be staying.
The nursery was all in place with the major furnishings and Kayleigh smiled when she noticed the rocking chair that she had admired in the store earlier that day. Her heart did a funny little beat at the thought of Derek buying it for her. He was turning out to be a little less of an ogre than she had originally thought and that made her smile.
After running up and down the stairs, situating the kitchen and nursery until all of the secondary items were in place, she thanked the movers and watched them leave – still in awe at all that had been accomplished in such a short amount of time. Emery was asleep in her new crib and Kayleigh took advantage of the time to collapse in the mahogany rocker. With her eyes closed, she never noticed Derek’s approach into the room. It was the smell of pizza that brought her back around.
“Is that pizza I smell?” she asked with a smile, her eyes still closed.
“Well, someone pointed out to me earlier that they had missed lunch.” He really was even more attractive when he relaxed and smiled, Kayleigh thought as she opened her eyes. She had never seen him so disheveled – his tie was long gone, as was his jacket, and the sleeves of the expensive silk shirt he wore were pushed up to expose a nice expanse of tanned forearms. “And I don’t want to be accused of causing poor working conditions for the woman who saved my life today.”
Kayleigh rose from the chair and followed Derek from the room and down to the kitchen. The breakfast bar was covered with black granite counter tops and that’s where she found the source of the wonderful aroma permeating the air. Without asking permission, she opened the box, grabbed a slice and began to eat. Midway through her second bite she noticed that Derek hadn’t joined in.
With a discreet lick of her lips, she asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”
Derek had watched the movement of her tongue and for a brief moment couldn’t respond. She made quite a vision. Her hair had started to come out of its tortoise shell clip, her make up had faded slightly and yet she still was possibly the most alluring woman he had ever seen. When he noticed that her eyes had gone wide with question, he remembered that she had asked him something.
“I was just waiting to make sure that I wasn’t going to get my hand bitten off,” he said lightly and was delighted when Kayleigh threw her head back and laughed. When her laughter subsided, he noticed that her cheeks had reddened slightly.
“I guess having been the youngest of four kids, I’m just used to diving right in just in case the others beat me to it and there was nothing left.” When Derek continued to just look at her, she added, “Believe me, it’s happened.” Then she continued to devour her long awaited lunch.
He stepped forward and reached for a slice of pizza and gave her a reassuring smile. “While you’re here I’ll remember to make sure that there’s plenty of food to go around.” He gave in to the urge to smile and relax his shoulders. Maybe everything was going to be okay. Maybe he would survive this monstrous change that had been thrown at him. And maybe, just maybe, he would actually enjoy it.
Chapter Three
Their first two days had been a time of major adjustments and apologies. With all that had been put into action to get Emery settled, both Kayleigh and Derek had neglected the fact that Kayleigh would need to get settled in as well. When Derek had gone back to his office late that first afternoon and the baby had woken up from her nap, Kayleigh loaded her into the car again and headed over to her own apartment to pack up the things that she would need for her extended stay as a nanny.
The first night had caused even more adjustments to come to light. Emery had no real schedule and Kayleigh found herself realizing that sleep was going to be a thing of the past until the baby settled in. Derek had made himself scarce and Kayleigh was hardly aware of his comings and goings. Babysitting for her nieces and nephews had in no way prepared her for the full-on demand of spending 24/7 with an infant. With her new surroundings thrown into the mix, Kayleigh was more than a little frazzled and was thankful that there were no real eye witnesses to see it all.
Reading every pamphlet that her brother had given her – front and back, several times – was just to beginning to make her feel at ease with Emery. By the end of the third day she was starting to feel as if they were bonding and that a schedule of sorts had been established. Everything was going to be all right. She and Emery were going to make this work and it was like they had the entire 5,500 square feet of luxury living to themselves.
Until the third night.
It was a little after midnight when Emery’s restlessness came through the monitor Kayleigh kept beside her bed. Looking at the bedside clock and grimacing, she rose. It would be better to not let the infant get into a state of panic before going in to get her.
“Hey, sweet girl,” Kayleigh whispered as she walked into the nursery. Reaching into the crib, she carried the baby to her changing table to put on a fresh diaper and then carried her down to the kitchen to retrieve a warm bottle. She cooed and sang lullabies to her during the entire process. With Emery securely snuggled on her shoulder, Kayleigh tested the formula, turned – and very nearly let out a scream. Derek stood less than a foot away with only the light from above a restaurant quality stove for illumination.
“Derek,” she whispered, “you scared me half to death!” Emery startled on her shoulder, but a brief pat on the back settled her.
“I’m sorry,” he said with a slight chuckle. “I thought that you heard me moving around. Is everything all right? Why is Emery awake?” When the man said that he didn’t have a clue about babies, he wasn’t kidding.
“She gets up at this time every night for a bottle. Don’t you hear her?”
“The last two nights I haven’t gotten home until after two.” He didn’t make any attempt to elaborate on his whereabouts – not that he needed to – but Kayleigh couldn’t help but wonder where he was until such an hour.
“Oh.” Without another word she turned to head back up the stairs to the safety of the nursery. Being this close to Derek in the dark was making her heart hammer and she didn’t want him to know just how nervous his closeness made her.
“Nice jammies,” came the deep voice from behind her. It had never occurred to Kayleigh to throw a robe on over her sleep attire – flannel boxer shorts with a ribbed tank top. Looking down at herself she gasped and hurried towards the stairs. “Kayleigh.” It was her name, nothing more, spoken in a tone that beckoned her to turn around and face him – half naked and all.
“Yes?” she replied softly, staying safely in the shadows at the foot of the staircase.
“You don’t have to run back upstairs. Please. Come sit in the living room with me. I was going to grab something to eat and watch some TV, but it would be nice to have someone to talk to.” It was a simple request. One that she knew she wouldn’t deny, even without a robe.
Walking into the dimly lit kitchen, she shifted the baby in her arms. Derek turned back towards the kitchen in search of a midnight snack. “I, um, I saved you a dish,” Kayleigh stammered, hoping that she didn’t sound like a complete idiot.
Derek turned and stared at her as if she had two heads. “What? Why?”
Oh, great, she thought to herself, I am a complete idiot. “I just thought that maybe you didn’t get a chance to eat dinner with the hours that you keep. I have no idea what your schedule is, but…,” she hesitated for a moment, “but I was cooking for myself and had made a little more than I could possibly eat and so I covered it and left it for you.” There, that sounded reasonable, right?
Opening the refrigerator door, Derek stood stupefied. There was not one covered dish, but three; one for each night she’d been here. He took a moment to let that
sink in. The last person to care about his well-being was his grandmother – and he hadn’t lived with her in well over twelve years. He’d been taking care of himself just fine, thank you very much, but the thought of Kayleigh cooking a little something extra for him made him smile. He didn’t realize just how alone he had been until that moment.
When he made no attempt to move, Kayleigh padded quietly into the living room. The reflection of the moon on the lake made for a breath-taking view. She sat in an over-stuffed suede chair, curled her feet under her and settled Emery in for her bottle. She didn’t try to strike up a conversation with Derek; she was too enthralled with the setting – the infant in her arms, the moonlight, the view, and Derek Sloan’s house. In her wildest dreams she never would have thought this possible, yet here she was.
The beeping of the microwave snapped her out of her reverie. Soon Derek was sitting on the sofa facing her – each piece of furniture sat on either side of an enormous stone fireplace. Kayleigh wondered how it would be to have a fire roaring in it while she and Derek made love in front of it. Stop it!
“So,” Derek began after tasting a forkful of Kayleigh’s shrimp Alfredo, “are you and Emery getting into a routine?”
“Yes.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and she had no idea why she was feeling so shy in front of him all of a sudden. After all, she’d worked for him for years and on the day that the baby arrived, they’d shared a lot with each other.
“Do you have everything that you need? Did we forget anything?”
“We’re fine, thank you.”
Derek dropped the fork he had been eating from as he rested his elbows on his knees and looked at her. Kayleigh knew he was irritated; it was written all over his face. That and pure exhaustion. “If you didn’t want to sit with me, you just should have said so,” he said with a weary sigh.
She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with him, but how could she possible explain to him that he was just so overwhelming to her?
The Baby Arrangement Page 3
